jeudi 22 mai 2008

With the recent Bauhaus reunion and tour with Nine Inch Nails, I wanted to share something from the Bauhaus "family" of releases. Here's a quick history for those not paying attention at the time. Bauhaus primarily existed as a band from 1979-1983. They initiated and popularized the gothic rock movement as it existed then: a darker offshoot/extension of David Bowie's earlier moody material. During this period, guitarist Daniel Ash was involved in the atmospheric side project Tones on Tail. After the break-up, drummer Kevin Haskins joined and this briefly became a full-time project. Bassist David J. joined The Jazz Butcher and singer Peter Murphy teamed up with Japan's Mick Kern for one-off project Dali's Car. Peter Murphy eventually went solo and the other three boys from Bauhaus reformed under the name Love and Rockets.

Personally, while I feel that the Love and Rockets material is musically the most complex and interesting out of all of this (1986's Express LP is definitely one of my Top 25 Albums of All Time), Tones on Tail has a timeless quality and is the music I return to most.

Following the 1989 release of Love and Rockets' retro rock 'n' roll self-titled fourth album, Daniel Ash issued his first solo album. Kevin Haskins is on board for various percussive elements and Natacha Atlas provides additional vocals on many of the tracks. This album is better in many ways to the Love and Rockets LP that preceded it. It didn't spawn a hit like "So Alive," but it finds Ash exploring more music territory. In some ways Ash is taking the 50s rock 'n' roll mode of that previous Love and Rockets album and extending it with an insular electronic ambient vibe. Fascinating, considering the electronic dance direction in which Love and Rockets eventually headed.

Check out the music videos for "This Love" and "Walk This Way":

As a bonus, I've included the b-side track "Heaven Is Waiting" from the This Love CD single that preceded the release of this album. Be careful with your volume, as the first track is much quieter than the rest of the album!